NEWS


The past 18 months have been horrendous for the travel industry, on any measure you


might care to come up with. Thousands of people have lost their livelihoods,


companies have lost millions of pounds, business models have been turned upside down, the life work of many entrepreneurs has been destroyed and our mental health has suffered greatly with the constant ‘crisis mode’ under which we are all operating. Coupled with this, we haven’t been able to freely see friends and family or live the lives we would normally enjoy. Against this backdrop, you could be forgiven for


Giles Hawke CHIEF EXECUTIVE, COSMOS AND AVALON WATERWAYS


Let’s ensure the compassion shown in this crisis continues


feeling a little bit down about things. But throughout the


pandemic there have been amazing stories of hope, persistence, perseverance and basic human kindness. Sometimes, when all you


read about is doom and gloom, it can be easy to become convinced that the world out there is bad, when the reality is that people are essentially good and kind and caring. Agents working for nothing


event as a much smaller group, but this year there are more than 20 people from the travel industry riding between 50 and 100 miles and aiming to raise £10,000 for the charity. We are still a way off our fundraising target and


recognise this is a difficult time for many people financially, but anything you can do to support would be gratefully received. The money raised will enable families facing particular hardships to get a short break to a UK seaside resort. The hashtag is #TeamCliaCycle21. Two weeks later, I will be running the Virtual


“The kindness and humanity is still needed and would be great to see


London Marathon for Abta LifeLine, a charity that supports members of the travel industry who have fallen on hard times – and this applies to many over the past 18 months. In every case the help is vital and can mean keeping food on the table or a roof over the heads of people who may be struggling through no fault of their own. I’m aiming to raise a


continued as we edge back to normality”


to look after their customers and help them; tour operators losing money to support agents and customers; individuals helping others out who are falling on hard times or finding it hard to cope; and anyone even just sending a kind word or friendly WhatsApp message of support. I’ve found some of the Zoom and Teams calls


I’ve had with colleagues, both within my business and more widely across the travel industry, have made a significant difference to keeping me positive, upbeat and forward-looking. We have a long way to go until the travel


industry is out of the woods from this crisis, but it does feel like the end of that tunnel is getting closer. However, the kindness, compassion and


humanity that has been shown by many is still needed and would be great to see continued as we move closer to a ‘business as normal’ environment.


Pedal power I am one of a large group of people taking to our bikes in the New Forest on September 19 to raise money for the Family Holiday Association. In previous years, we have done this fundraising


12 2 SEPTEMBER 2021


modest £1,000 to help those in need from within our industry and will be running a hilly, off-road marathon to make it more challenging than


it needs to be for my first-ever 26.2 miles of running!


Proactive help Training and planning for these two events has helped me focus on something positive and proactive during difficult times. On top of that, to know we are doing something to help others, while challenging ourselves physically and mentally, gives a sense of satisfaction even greater than giving a gift or a compliment. It is tangible, practical and valuable, and maybe shows that deeds are important ways of backing up the words. Travel will open up again, new jobs and


businesses will be created, and most will bounce back from this difficult time. But I hope that we all remember our basic decent human values when this happens and we continue to do what we can to support others who may be going through tough times and go out of our way to do the right thing.


Read more columns by Giles Hawke: go.travelweekly.co.uk/comment


travelweekly.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60